The present invention is directed to an internally sourced air intake filtration arrangement. More particularly, the present invention is directed to an arrangement wherein the air intake of an engine, such as an internal combustion engine used with a vehicle, has an air intake which originates at a location other then a location within the compartment containing the engine.
In almost all vehicles, the air intake for an internal combustion engine driving the vehicle is located adjacent to the engine and in most cases faces the front of the vehicle. Locating the air intake at the front of vehicle adjacent to the engine generally requires that the air filter also be located within the engine compartment. Air filters must have a substantial surface area in order to be effective and consequently are relatively large in volume. Since air filters are relatively large volumes, they consume considerable space. This is especially the case since they require a housing which necessarily consumes more space then the air filter it contains. Space is at a premium within an engine compartment because there are numerous compartments and accessories associated with a modern vehicular engine. Accordingly, if the combustion air filters used with internal combustion engine could be moved out of engine compartments, then there would be either additional space within the engine compartment or the engine compartment could be made smaller, thus providing additional design flexibility for vehicles. An additional consideration is providing access for servicing and installing engines and, in the case of front wheel drive vehicles, numerous drive train components that must be periodically inspected and serviced.
An additional consideration other then space considerations is the quality of air initially introduced for combustion. Currently, combustion air is taken from the engine compartment or generally from the front portion of the car. Consequently, it is full of dirt, grit and various other particles which must be removed by the air filter. As a result, the air filter can become prematurely clogged especially if the vehicle is driven through a dusty area. This can result in inefficient engine performance up until the time the clogged filter is changed.
There are additional concerns such as reducing overall vehicle weight, which is not necessarily reduced in large increments, but can also be reduced in small increments where various components are slightly reduced in weight resulting in a meaningful overall reduction in weight. In addition, air which has been settled down in the cabin, provides more consistent and predictable airflow into the filter. This can be of significance with respect to laminar flow through to the engine. In that air temperatures can adversely effect the combustion process and lower fuel economy, introducing relatively cool denser air from passenger cabin can result in improved fuel economy when operating the engine in a hot environment.
In view of these considerations there is a need for improvements in providing engine combustion air.
In view of the aforementioned considerations, the present invention is directed to an arrangement for providing combustion air for an engine of a vehicle having a passenger cabin and an engine compartment separated from the passenger by a wall. The arrangement comprises a combustion air intake system having a first end connected to the engine and a second end opening into the passenger cabin with an air filter disposed in the combustion air intake system for filtering air drawn from the passenger cabin in order to provide filtered combustion air for the engine.
In another aspect of the invention, the air filter is disposed within the passenger cabin and in additional aspect there is a mount for the air filter in the air intake system as well as a release associated with the air filter and the mount for releasably mounting the air filter on the mount.
In still a further aspect of the invention, there is a second air intake disposed between the passenger cabin and the environment surrounding the vehicle. A second, air filter is associated with the second air intake for filtering atmospheric air as the air enters the passenger cabin.
In still a further aspect of the invention, the second air intake is in the rear of the vehicle so that the air intake may be associated with the trunk of vehicle, if the vehicle does in fact have a trunk. In accordance with this aspect of the invention, the second air filter may be disposed within the trunk of the vehicle.